Superior blog content makes you money. Here's how to write it like a pro.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Blogs have swept the Internet. EVERY smart person either has one or is working hard to create one asap. This means you!
I'm here to deliver the blog content you must have and are (right now) clueless about creating. Let's dig in and solve that problem right now.
A blog is not a soliloquy, a tirade, or a soap box.
A blog is a conversation started by you. And like all conversations it takes two to tango.
Sadly, most people are lousy conversationalists. They do not converse, back and forth. Rather, they talk at people, mistaking the fact that they are pumping out words to beat the band for a keenly felt desire to hear what the other person has to say. These are selfish communicators... and they can never produce the results you must have to make your blog worthwhile.
Blogs work because they are interactive... and this means creating content that gets results while always urging your readers to respond.
But let's be honest with each other. You're not at all sure how to write blog content that'll do what every blog must do: generate leads and make money. Isn't that about the size of it?
For make no mistake, there is ABSOLUTELY NO point in creating and publishing a blog that doesn't generate good leads and make you money, every single day.
To achieve this objective RSVP must become the 4 most important letters in your profit alphabet.
Repondez s'il vous plait.
1) Always talk to your readers in the second person; always speak to them directly with an implicit or explicit "you". Your reader must know you are talking to her, personally, directly.
2) Make it clear you want to hear from your readers. Readers of your blog need to be told, often and clearly, that you WANT to hear from them; that you are standing by to hear from them... and that hearing from them, now, is the one essential you must have to make your day.
3) Make it easy to respond to you. Include your land line phone number, cell, skype, email, etc. If you want responses, make it supremely easy to respond to you.
4) Keep the tone of your blog intimate, as if you were having a private conversation with your best friend. People always want to know secrets and revealing information, especially about you. Oblige them.
5) Publish reader comments in your blog. What's one tried and true feature that's sure to rivet the full and immediate attention of your readers? Put their name in your blog; their name and any interesting and constructive comments they have made.
Hint: if a blog reader criticizes you, print the criticism... and your (always) cool, calm and collected response. People love reading such exchanges... and your stature is sure to grow by showing your readers how well you handle them. Ole!
"Content is king," saith Bill Gates... and he surely knows.
Billionaire Bill said, many years ago, that online "content is king." Truer words have ne'er been spoke. The key is knowing how to get it.
Start with a pair of scissors.
Each day I sit down with the publications I receive, including the Boston Globe, New England's paper of record. Over my Cheerios I proceed to read... not just for immediate information but for topics of interest about which I can write blog content.
Such topics are easy to find, ranging as they to from current Congressional high jinx to the faux pas of kings and presidents; from economic prognostications to items of human interest and insight.
If you want to run an effective, useful blog, keep such publications -- and scissors -- near at hand.
The wire services are key.
All day, every day the essential, usually unsung heroes of international incident and instant communications -- the wire services of the Associated Press, Reuters, etc -- pump out the factual information every single commentator on earth relies on and must be grateful for. In short, they do the grunt work that enables you to appear at all times knowledgeable, intelligent, omniscient. Without them such poses would be fatuous, ridiculous., unsustainable.
Similarly, check places inhabited by news junkies like me; you know, the major search engines and, always, CNN, Fox News, etc. Remember, a blog is a place of commentary... and commentators (with you now amongst them) must ALWAYS have something on which to comment.
Another hint: you need to open an "idea" folder, into which you can file, on a regular, daily basis, all the good subjects (funny, tragic, infamous, informative) that come your way. Never rely upon memory. Remember your scissors (and for online information your printer.) Gather this information and put it away. For this is the pure gold of the commenting business, and of your so well informed blog.
Timely blog posts; timeless blog posts. You need both
All blog content falls into two main categories: timely and timeless.
Timely means things of the moment; actions, events that are breaking news. You must be on top of these stories with valuable content and timely comment. Your aim must always be to be in advance of the developing story... at the very least on top of the current news cycle. This can easily be done on the 'net... if you stay abreast of story developments, as reported in the spots inhabited by news junkies and blogsters like you.
But all your posts need not be timely; much invaluable content can and should be timeless -- meaning it can be used and reused... again and again -- either as is, or updated. Such "evergreen" content has always been the friend of folks like us with a deadline... and the need for immediate content... but not an idea to be had. We rely on such worthy content, as on a good friend. (By the way, this article goes firmly into that category... for it has legs and can be read -- and published -- with profit for years to come.)
Your blog is your future
Right now, yet again, the Internet is being reshuffled. Those with blogs of consequence are emerging as the very sovereigns of cyberspace. Believe me, you wish to be amongst them... for to them will fall all the loaves and fishes.
These remarks will help. Print them, save them, savour them, for they come from an old hand at this fast-moving business.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also a syndicated writer and author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Rahimah Sultan
http://SureFireSuccessNow.com
Check out Push Button Cash Site
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Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Massive Passive Income: Does Autoblogging Really Work?
Autoblogging is quite a hot topic these days in the Internet Marketing social circles. In case you have not heard all of the recent buzz and are scratching your head about what autoblogging is, it's a method for creating blogs in a 'set it and forget it' kind of way that have plugins in place to automatically post content daily. This essentially takes much of the labor out of creating unique content and posting daily or even every few days. But, the question of the moment is, does autoblogging work? Can you really generate a ton of passive income just from setting up these little niche blogs and then leaving them to fend for themselves?
Here are some things that you might hear about autoblogging:
Autoblogging is nothing but a scam
Most likely written either by folks who have tried it and failed, or who simply dismiss the concept out-of-hand because they firmly believe that the only way to blog is by creating unique content daily.
Autoblogging is your gateway to untold Internet Marketing riches
At the other end of the spectrum you might here claims that autoblogging is your ticket to riches and fame. Those messages are most often promulgated by those who are selling an autoblogging product.
The truth about autoblogging
Somewhere in between the idea that autoblogging is a black hat scam, and the idea that you can auto-blog your way to untold wealth is the truth that falls somewhere in between those extremes.
With autoblogging you use automated plugins that grab content based on your keywords from RSS feeds, article directories, your own stash of PLR content, and videos. You are aggregating all of this content and presenting it under your chosen category along with adverts that would appeal to the particular audience that you are targeting with your content.
You also need the tools and technology to make setting up and maintaining multiple blogs simple and straightforward. Wordpress is the perfect platform for your auto-blogs because it allows you to host multiple, individual blogs with their own domain names on a single installation of the Wordpress software on your server.
Autoblogging has many moving parts, so it's good to have a proven system to follow to help ensure your chances for success. Trying to patch together a solution and work through trial and error on your own can cost you valuable time and money.
If you follow a proven system and if you are willing to invest some time, thought and strategy on the front end, you can set up an empire of auto-blogs that will generate a healthy stream of passive income for you.
If you are serious about getting started building your own autoblogging empire, you must check out Massive Passive Profits, which is a mass deploy autoblogging format that completely automates the creation of Wordpress multi-user blog and feeds them with tons of content.
Republished with author's permission by Rahimah Sultan http://SureFireSuccessNow.com
Check out Rapid Cash Tactics
Here’s Your Roadmap For Marketing Strategies
Autoblogging is quite a hot topic these days in the Internet Marketing social circles. In case you have not heard all of the recent buzz and are scratching your head about what autoblogging is, it's a method for creating blogs in a 'set it and forget it' kind of way that have plugins in place to automatically post content daily. This essentially takes much of the labor out of creating unique content and posting daily or even every few days. But, the question of the moment is, does autoblogging work? Can you really generate a ton of passive income just from setting up these little niche blogs and then leaving them to fend for themselves?
Here are some things that you might hear about autoblogging:
Autoblogging is nothing but a scam
Most likely written either by folks who have tried it and failed, or who simply dismiss the concept out-of-hand because they firmly believe that the only way to blog is by creating unique content daily.
Autoblogging is your gateway to untold Internet Marketing riches
At the other end of the spectrum you might here claims that autoblogging is your ticket to riches and fame. Those messages are most often promulgated by those who are selling an autoblogging product.
The truth about autoblogging
Somewhere in between the idea that autoblogging is a black hat scam, and the idea that you can auto-blog your way to untold wealth is the truth that falls somewhere in between those extremes.
With autoblogging you use automated plugins that grab content based on your keywords from RSS feeds, article directories, your own stash of PLR content, and videos. You are aggregating all of this content and presenting it under your chosen category along with adverts that would appeal to the particular audience that you are targeting with your content.
You also need the tools and technology to make setting up and maintaining multiple blogs simple and straightforward. Wordpress is the perfect platform for your auto-blogs because it allows you to host multiple, individual blogs with their own domain names on a single installation of the Wordpress software on your server.
Autoblogging has many moving parts, so it's good to have a proven system to follow to help ensure your chances for success. Trying to patch together a solution and work through trial and error on your own can cost you valuable time and money.
If you follow a proven system and if you are willing to invest some time, thought and strategy on the front end, you can set up an empire of auto-blogs that will generate a healthy stream of passive income for you.
If you are serious about getting started building your own autoblogging empire, you must check out Massive Passive Profits, which is a mass deploy autoblogging format that completely automates the creation of Wordpress multi-user blog and feeds them with tons of content.
Republished with author's permission by Rahimah Sultan http://SureFireSuccessNow.com
Check out Rapid Cash Tactics
Here’s Your Roadmap For Marketing Strategies
Friday, January 14, 2011
Ted Williams, his golden voice, and the cost of second chances.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Millions of people worldwide are now familiar with the first "feel good" story of the year. Here are the facts.
Ted Williams was one of a small army of panhandlers with a plum spot along a well-traveled Ohio highway. You know the type, camouflage jacket, scruffy to a degree, odoriferous.
All these folks carry handwritten signs with their message of special pleading, a message designed for maximum pathos and heart-rending effect. Ted's said, in part, "God-given gift of a voice."
Through a tip, the Columbus Dispatch paper heard about Williams and, on a slow news day, sent a reporter to hear this phenomenon say something, anything. It didn't matter what.
Finding Williams wasn't difficult. Like most homeless people, his habits were pretty consistent. After all, there's no place like home, even if you're domiciled in a cardboard box under the interstate.
Ted, an affable fellow, was glad to oblige.... and so he made like the radio announcer he used to be and did the "Coming up at 10 pm tonight...." kind of voice overs, where intonation is everything.
The effect was immediate, electric, the real mccoy, and thanks to the Columbus Dispatch and Utube it went viral, fast -- the bedraggled Williams and that oh-so-perfect voice.
In the way of these things, stuff started to happen for the big-smile Williams right away. He immediately went on Ohio radio and the "Today" show.,(where he cried when discussing the mother he had neglected for so long.
He got job offers and expressions of initial interest from a host of companies and organizations including the Cleveland Cavaliers, the National Football League, the Oho Credit Union League, and ESPN, to name a fraction. Kraft (the cheese people) didn't just offer... they paid him good American greenbacks to do a voice over that only increased his renown and appeal.
There was even immediate speculation that Ted would be invited by the President of these United States to be his personal guest at the upcoming State of the Union Address. There Ted would be mentioned by name so the president could launch a telling phrase in his honor and derive the satisfaction of benevolence.
Ted was eager, grateful, overwhelmed. In an instant the people of America had shed their grace on this man of the streets. It was picture perfect... heart warming... a made for tv movie.
A handsome down and outer who cleaned up well
his golden voice
generous America taking him to its bosom
a soul redeemed
kudos and self-satisfaction all round.
And all in a couple of news cycles.
The reality, of course, was different... gritty, complicated, not quite so perfect but utterly predictable. Ted Williams at 53 was a man with a past.... booze, drugs, women... and a host of people who had Something To Say about this man of charm and irresponsibility.
His 90 year old mother stepped forward and had her say-so. Her voice was resolute, too... she looked the camera squarely in the eye and said her piece. Ted had done well in the military, had a good job, a solid life and had thrown it all away, inexplicably on drugs. He was long gone and seldom called; when he did he wanted something. Always to take, never to give. Each call fed her disgust.
In this woman there was a true hint of steel and substance. Old, but not elderly... she had no qualms about saying what she had to say. It was clear she'd been thinking about Ted and all he did wrong for many, many years. Her focus was where it needed to be: not on that golden voice... but on the man who shucked off his responsibilities to find fulfillment in something his mother could never understand or approve. Yes, there was steel in her voice, not just precise articulation and distinct diction.
Then there was his ex-wife Patricia Kirtley. Twenty three years ago he had deserted her and their 4 girls... and a 5th child he had with another woman. Kirtley, in the best tradition of strong black women, weak black men, had brought them all up throughout difficult days and lonely nights... when this partially blind woman of poise, grace, and determination had decisions to make, problems to solve all without the man who should have been present, helping, understanding, comforting.
She says, mildly, the kids feel "some resentment" about a father in the area but so focused on his own needs that he was never there for any of them. If they only felt "some resentment" they were rare children indeed. Rage would have become them better.
And had this long-gone father called Patricia and in that deep baritone now known to the world offered her and his life neglected children even some of his new found riches and promising future?
What do you think?
He had other fish to fry, places to go, people to meet, a golden future sustained by that golden voice. Old hostages to fortune, ex-wives, ex-girl friends, children, mother. They were all part of the past... with no claim to his future.
Ted, after all, was the darling of the media... a likely guest of the President of the United States, a spokesman for that most American of meals, mac and cheese. He had a future in which there was no place for his past.
And so, today, while Ted's smile and famous voice circle the globe in story after story, picking up speed and viewers as it proceeds, Ted's mother and former wife (now with 16 grandchildren) will go about the business of their lives, keeping hope and family alive and together. And they will do it, as they have done it, without Ted and his never-to-be forgotten voice.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Rahimah Sultan http://SureFireSuccessNow.com.
Check out Copy Paste Traffic
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Millions of people worldwide are now familiar with the first "feel good" story of the year. Here are the facts.
Ted Williams was one of a small army of panhandlers with a plum spot along a well-traveled Ohio highway. You know the type, camouflage jacket, scruffy to a degree, odoriferous.
All these folks carry handwritten signs with their message of special pleading, a message designed for maximum pathos and heart-rending effect. Ted's said, in part, "God-given gift of a voice."
Through a tip, the Columbus Dispatch paper heard about Williams and, on a slow news day, sent a reporter to hear this phenomenon say something, anything. It didn't matter what.
Finding Williams wasn't difficult. Like most homeless people, his habits were pretty consistent. After all, there's no place like home, even if you're domiciled in a cardboard box under the interstate.
Ted, an affable fellow, was glad to oblige.... and so he made like the radio announcer he used to be and did the "Coming up at 10 pm tonight...." kind of voice overs, where intonation is everything.
The effect was immediate, electric, the real mccoy, and thanks to the Columbus Dispatch and Utube it went viral, fast -- the bedraggled Williams and that oh-so-perfect voice.
In the way of these things, stuff started to happen for the big-smile Williams right away. He immediately went on Ohio radio and the "Today" show.,(where he cried when discussing the mother he had neglected for so long.
He got job offers and expressions of initial interest from a host of companies and organizations including the Cleveland Cavaliers, the National Football League, the Oho Credit Union League, and ESPN, to name a fraction. Kraft (the cheese people) didn't just offer... they paid him good American greenbacks to do a voice over that only increased his renown and appeal.
There was even immediate speculation that Ted would be invited by the President of these United States to be his personal guest at the upcoming State of the Union Address. There Ted would be mentioned by name so the president could launch a telling phrase in his honor and derive the satisfaction of benevolence.
Ted was eager, grateful, overwhelmed. In an instant the people of America had shed their grace on this man of the streets. It was picture perfect... heart warming... a made for tv movie.
A handsome down and outer who cleaned up well
his golden voice
generous America taking him to its bosom
a soul redeemed
kudos and self-satisfaction all round.
And all in a couple of news cycles.
The reality, of course, was different... gritty, complicated, not quite so perfect but utterly predictable. Ted Williams at 53 was a man with a past.... booze, drugs, women... and a host of people who had Something To Say about this man of charm and irresponsibility.
His 90 year old mother stepped forward and had her say-so. Her voice was resolute, too... she looked the camera squarely in the eye and said her piece. Ted had done well in the military, had a good job, a solid life and had thrown it all away, inexplicably on drugs. He was long gone and seldom called; when he did he wanted something. Always to take, never to give. Each call fed her disgust.
In this woman there was a true hint of steel and substance. Old, but not elderly... she had no qualms about saying what she had to say. It was clear she'd been thinking about Ted and all he did wrong for many, many years. Her focus was where it needed to be: not on that golden voice... but on the man who shucked off his responsibilities to find fulfillment in something his mother could never understand or approve. Yes, there was steel in her voice, not just precise articulation and distinct diction.
Then there was his ex-wife Patricia Kirtley. Twenty three years ago he had deserted her and their 4 girls... and a 5th child he had with another woman. Kirtley, in the best tradition of strong black women, weak black men, had brought them all up throughout difficult days and lonely nights... when this partially blind woman of poise, grace, and determination had decisions to make, problems to solve all without the man who should have been present, helping, understanding, comforting.
She says, mildly, the kids feel "some resentment" about a father in the area but so focused on his own needs that he was never there for any of them. If they only felt "some resentment" they were rare children indeed. Rage would have become them better.
And had this long-gone father called Patricia and in that deep baritone now known to the world offered her and his life neglected children even some of his new found riches and promising future?
What do you think?
He had other fish to fry, places to go, people to meet, a golden future sustained by that golden voice. Old hostages to fortune, ex-wives, ex-girl friends, children, mother. They were all part of the past... with no claim to his future.
Ted, after all, was the darling of the media... a likely guest of the President of the United States, a spokesman for that most American of meals, mac and cheese. He had a future in which there was no place for his past.
And so, today, while Ted's smile and famous voice circle the globe in story after story, picking up speed and viewers as it proceeds, Ted's mother and former wife (now with 16 grandchildren) will go about the business of their lives, keeping hope and family alive and together. And they will do it, as they have done it, without Ted and his never-to-be forgotten voice.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Rahimah Sultan http://SureFireSuccessNow.com.
Check out Copy Paste Traffic
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Article Writing and Submission to Directories—A Mini Lesson
Copyright © Rahimah Sultan
http://MarketingSuccessReview.com
Article writing/article marketing, is a very good method of getting targeted prospects to your websites. However, there are a couple of common mistakes that people make when submitting content to directories.
They focus on getting backlinks to their sites from directories as opposed to giving good content that helps their readers, and they don’t maximize the promotional opportunities of article marketing.
You shouldn’t just plan for your article to be accepted by directories for the sake of a backlink, but to be used by publishers/webmasters who search the directories for website content. Don’t underestimate the potential that this can have on your promotional efforts, as many of these publishers may have hundreds of regular visitors who could view your article.
Even if a poorly written, non-informative article does get into a directory the potential, for being picked up by webmasters looking for beneficial content is, decreased. You want to get massive exposure from submitting a quality article. Then, that article will not only generate links back to your site from the article directories themselves, but it will also generate links from any sites that publish it from these directories.
Writing and effectively marketing your articles helps you position yourself as the expert in your field. So, take advantage of this promotional fact by providing relevant keywords in strategic places throughout the article. Search Engines love article content. If yours are good and distributed properly, they can go viral.
Your articles can later become content for newsletters, blogs and online networking groups or you can combine them into an eBook or info-product that can be sold or given away for your prospects contact information. You can also use them as free giveaways to those who purchase your products.
Remember, the main reason for writing an article is to inform your audience about a particular subject. It takes time, skill, and effort to write and effectively use articles. That’s why many people won’t do it. But, if you’re looking for an advantage, this is a way to share your knowledge and to draw prospects to you.
About the Author
I am an Entrepreneur
http://MarketingSuccessReview.com
Copyright © Rahimah Sultan
http://MarketingSuccessReview.com
Article writing/article marketing, is a very good method of getting targeted prospects to your websites. However, there are a couple of common mistakes that people make when submitting content to directories.
They focus on getting backlinks to their sites from directories as opposed to giving good content that helps their readers, and they don’t maximize the promotional opportunities of article marketing.
You shouldn’t just plan for your article to be accepted by directories for the sake of a backlink, but to be used by publishers/webmasters who search the directories for website content. Don’t underestimate the potential that this can have on your promotional efforts, as many of these publishers may have hundreds of regular visitors who could view your article.
Even if a poorly written, non-informative article does get into a directory the potential, for being picked up by webmasters looking for beneficial content is, decreased. You want to get massive exposure from submitting a quality article. Then, that article will not only generate links back to your site from the article directories themselves, but it will also generate links from any sites that publish it from these directories.
Writing and effectively marketing your articles helps you position yourself as the expert in your field. So, take advantage of this promotional fact by providing relevant keywords in strategic places throughout the article. Search Engines love article content. If yours are good and distributed properly, they can go viral.
Your articles can later become content for newsletters, blogs and online networking groups or you can combine them into an eBook or info-product that can be sold or given away for your prospects contact information. You can also use them as free giveaways to those who purchase your products.
Remember, the main reason for writing an article is to inform your audience about a particular subject. It takes time, skill, and effort to write and effectively use articles. That’s why many people won’t do it. But, if you’re looking for an advantage, this is a way to share your knowledge and to draw prospects to you.
About the Author
I am an Entrepreneur
http://MarketingSuccessReview.com
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Wicked Cool: The hubris and high jinks of Captain Owen Honors, United States Navy, sometime captain of the USS Enterprise.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Let me introduce you to a cool dude, cute too, who knows how to party and had the perfect place to do it. I'm talking about U.S. Navy Captain Owen Honors, only just relieved as commander of America's only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the proud USS Enterprise.
Honors, who never met a camera he didn't like, a man determined to please his crew, liked to spend his week preparing videos -- starring, guess who -- Captain Owen Honors, 49 year old Top Gun pilot and decided off-color video star.
Honors had at his disposal the very best video equipment generous U.S. taxpayers could buy. His effects were right up-to-the-minute, like having three separate screens in which (guess who?) appeared as three different (all cool) characters. Wow!
Honors, each week determined to outdo himself on week-end XO nights (when his latest videos were shown), somehow found time in his very busy days. The USS Entereprise, after all, was deployed supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A man of dedication, energy, imagination he somehow found the time to work on video ideas, plots, film venues, and a dazzling array of really cool outfits perfectly tailored. This caring captain was determined to give his eagerly expectant 6000-person crew the very best . He certainly did, particularly in 2006-2007 when his bold ideas and still bolder presentations took the Enterprise by storm and riveted every eye on the ship. What, they all wondered, would their daring executive officer, then Captain Honors do next?
They never had long to wait.
There was that hot video when their cutting-edge commander simulated masturbation at his desk. As Paris Hilton would say, "That's hot!"
What about the never-to-be-forgotten episode of two naked guys soaping each other off in the shower. Honors was a nut for saving water... and wanted to drive home the point with eye-popping visuals. And, to be completely politically correct, he did the same scene with two of the women of his crew.
There was more, much more since Honors was an indefatigable guy with an unceasing appetite for more and better; ambitious videos of which he soon became the master with the help of designated members of his command.
There was the anal probe episode... and all the "fag" plots, pratfalls and plays. That commander... what a cut-up.
There were the in jokes, like writing "little XO" on his you-know-what. It was hilarious, pure camp, what a guy.
And just think, he did it all while on deployment in not one, but two war zones. How did the guy do it, inquiring minds wanted to know.
Alas, there was irritating criticism from small minds.
It's hard to imagine... but disgracefully true... that there were members of the Enterprise crew who found their commander's hard work and dazzling results offensive. Small minded, picayune, uptight... these folks made a fuss and criticized the coolest guy in the fleet. This rankled with Honors, for he was working so hard. Why his bravura video on the "f-bomb" was pure poetry. Really, who could object?
In a rare outburst, this commander of poise and sensitivity lashed out at his anonymous accusers: "Over the years I've gotten several complaints about inappropriate material during these videos, never to me personally but, gutlessly, through other channels." Gutless, indeed! If there'd been a plank aboard the Enterprise, Honors would have been well within his rights to put the snivelers on it.
Instead, he opened one of his last videos with these mild, entirely justified words: "This evening, all of you bleeding hearts... why don't you just go ahead and hug yourself for the next 20 minutes or so, because there's a really good chance you're gonna be offended."
That's the man in a nutshell, empathetic, soft spoken.
Still one of these snivelers (probably gay), not yet identified by name, took (inexplicable) offense... go figure... sending the (to him) offending tapes to the Navy Inspector General.
Where all hell broke lose.
Despite the fact that Owen Honors was well-known throughout the Navy, despite the fact that he had a high visibility command; despite 3,400 flight hours in 31 types of aircraft... despite a chestful of bona fide awards and medals... the Navy moved expeditiously because it knew it had a real hot potato on its hands.
Navy media releases quickly went from "the videos were intended to be humorous" to "inappropriate"... to the announcement Captain Honors was relieved of his command as the Navy initiated, behind the scenes, the steps required to cashier him from the service he loved and had served throughout his life. My how the mighty had fallen!
Certain Navy personnel and those persons wedded to the good old days of fag baiting and the humiliation and degradation of women, predictably launched a campaign to save the Captain and his wayward views. They tried to convince by asking what was the big deal after all; the views advanced in the Captain's high tech videos were commonplace, nothing to write home about, the way "everyone" thought.
Exactly.
This is why the Navy Department is to be commended on taking (reasonably) prompt action to lance the infection and proclaim zero tolerance for mocking good sailors, their sexuality and gender.
The Navy is moving fast now to get just-suspended Captain Honors out of public view, to bury this still young officer with talent and skills to burn and ensure that he becomes the complete non-person, He is, after all, a total embarrassment... the story breaking at the worst possible time, as the Navy shows that it can, with good humor and in good order, nimbly move into the post "don't ask, don't tell" era.
There is, the Navy signals, no place in this new order for Captain Honors, once absolute lord of all he surveyed. Such a man so powerful and so lacking in judgement is now an inconvenient artifact of an age and state of mind the Navy wants firmly, irrevocably behind it.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Rahimah Sultan http://SureFireSuccessNow.com.
Check out Blog Cash
http://marketingsuccessreview.com
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Let me introduce you to a cool dude, cute too, who knows how to party and had the perfect place to do it. I'm talking about U.S. Navy Captain Owen Honors, only just relieved as commander of America's only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the proud USS Enterprise.
Honors, who never met a camera he didn't like, a man determined to please his crew, liked to spend his week preparing videos -- starring, guess who -- Captain Owen Honors, 49 year old Top Gun pilot and decided off-color video star.
Honors had at his disposal the very best video equipment generous U.S. taxpayers could buy. His effects were right up-to-the-minute, like having three separate screens in which (guess who?) appeared as three different (all cool) characters. Wow!
Honors, each week determined to outdo himself on week-end XO nights (when his latest videos were shown), somehow found time in his very busy days. The USS Entereprise, after all, was deployed supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A man of dedication, energy, imagination he somehow found the time to work on video ideas, plots, film venues, and a dazzling array of really cool outfits perfectly tailored. This caring captain was determined to give his eagerly expectant 6000-person crew the very best . He certainly did, particularly in 2006-2007 when his bold ideas and still bolder presentations took the Enterprise by storm and riveted every eye on the ship. What, they all wondered, would their daring executive officer, then Captain Honors do next?
They never had long to wait.
There was that hot video when their cutting-edge commander simulated masturbation at his desk. As Paris Hilton would say, "That's hot!"
What about the never-to-be-forgotten episode of two naked guys soaping each other off in the shower. Honors was a nut for saving water... and wanted to drive home the point with eye-popping visuals. And, to be completely politically correct, he did the same scene with two of the women of his crew.
There was more, much more since Honors was an indefatigable guy with an unceasing appetite for more and better; ambitious videos of which he soon became the master with the help of designated members of his command.
There was the anal probe episode... and all the "fag" plots, pratfalls and plays. That commander... what a cut-up.
There were the in jokes, like writing "little XO" on his you-know-what. It was hilarious, pure camp, what a guy.
And just think, he did it all while on deployment in not one, but two war zones. How did the guy do it, inquiring minds wanted to know.
Alas, there was irritating criticism from small minds.
It's hard to imagine... but disgracefully true... that there were members of the Enterprise crew who found their commander's hard work and dazzling results offensive. Small minded, picayune, uptight... these folks made a fuss and criticized the coolest guy in the fleet. This rankled with Honors, for he was working so hard. Why his bravura video on the "f-bomb" was pure poetry. Really, who could object?
In a rare outburst, this commander of poise and sensitivity lashed out at his anonymous accusers: "Over the years I've gotten several complaints about inappropriate material during these videos, never to me personally but, gutlessly, through other channels." Gutless, indeed! If there'd been a plank aboard the Enterprise, Honors would have been well within his rights to put the snivelers on it.
Instead, he opened one of his last videos with these mild, entirely justified words: "This evening, all of you bleeding hearts... why don't you just go ahead and hug yourself for the next 20 minutes or so, because there's a really good chance you're gonna be offended."
That's the man in a nutshell, empathetic, soft spoken.
Still one of these snivelers (probably gay), not yet identified by name, took (inexplicable) offense... go figure... sending the (to him) offending tapes to the Navy Inspector General.
Where all hell broke lose.
Despite the fact that Owen Honors was well-known throughout the Navy, despite the fact that he had a high visibility command; despite 3,400 flight hours in 31 types of aircraft... despite a chestful of bona fide awards and medals... the Navy moved expeditiously because it knew it had a real hot potato on its hands.
Navy media releases quickly went from "the videos were intended to be humorous" to "inappropriate"... to the announcement Captain Honors was relieved of his command as the Navy initiated, behind the scenes, the steps required to cashier him from the service he loved and had served throughout his life. My how the mighty had fallen!
Certain Navy personnel and those persons wedded to the good old days of fag baiting and the humiliation and degradation of women, predictably launched a campaign to save the Captain and his wayward views. They tried to convince by asking what was the big deal after all; the views advanced in the Captain's high tech videos were commonplace, nothing to write home about, the way "everyone" thought.
Exactly.
This is why the Navy Department is to be commended on taking (reasonably) prompt action to lance the infection and proclaim zero tolerance for mocking good sailors, their sexuality and gender.
The Navy is moving fast now to get just-suspended Captain Honors out of public view, to bury this still young officer with talent and skills to burn and ensure that he becomes the complete non-person, He is, after all, a total embarrassment... the story breaking at the worst possible time, as the Navy shows that it can, with good humor and in good order, nimbly move into the post "don't ask, don't tell" era.
There is, the Navy signals, no place in this new order for Captain Honors, once absolute lord of all he surveyed. Such a man so powerful and so lacking in judgement is now an inconvenient artifact of an age and state of mind the Navy wants firmly, irrevocably behind it.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Rahimah Sultan http://SureFireSuccessNow.com.
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